Is marriage really the key to happiness? This is, in any case, the hypothesis supported by a team from Georgia State University (in the United States). The researchers worked with data from 3,617 American adults, aged 24 to 89, who were asked regularly about their health and well-being.
American researchers have made an interesting discovery: Married couples earning less than $ 60,000 (or about $ 49,000) per year seemed less affected by depression than average. As a reminder, worldwide, depression affects more than 340 million people; in France, 1 in 5 adults will be affected by this disease during their lifetime.
“We believe that this effect is partly linked to the financial and social security felt by precarious individuals after marriage”, explain the researchers whose work has been published in the specialized journal Social Science Research.
Marriage, a bulwark against depression … for precarious people
On the other hand, the trend is reversed when income increases. Thus, the researchers found that single individuals (and never married) earning more than $ 60,000 per year had a lower risk of depression than individuals with similar income but … living in a couple.
“The welfare benefits of marriage therefore seem to concern people in a precarious situation” conclude the scientists.
Marriage, an asset for health? Several studies confirm this: in 2013, American studies showed that cancer victims tended to live longer when they were in a relationship; in 2014, other American researchers discovered that a happy marriage reduced cardiovascular risk. Good to know…
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In the West we get together, in the East we get married!
